With the ever-evolving corporates, IT parks, hospitals, schools, colleges, and other businesses in India, Catering business is the one common thing to all. It serves as the backbone to all these sectors and provides ample employment opportunities in a country like India. However, don’t presume the business of catering means serving food to the guests in the big fat Indian wedding. Catering is a diverse business, for which there is a number of legal formalities and other aspects that one needs to fulfill. In this blog, we will guide you on how to start your own catering business from scratch and adhere to all the norms and regulations that government imposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In India, it is seen that people often talk about\nbusiness ideas, even so, when it comes to\nexecuting those ideas they compromise upon the legal requirements of the\nbusiness. Same is the case with the catering\nbusiness. If you are a chef, good cook or a passionate food enthusiast, that\nwants to enter into the business of catering, then you must decide the kind of\nbusiness entity you want to set up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Either you can\nset up a private limited\ncompany<\/a> or a limited liability partnership. Now the question arises is that\nwhen you have so many options of business structures available in India then\nwhy will zero in on to these two business entities?<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you set up\nyour business of catering as a private\nlimited company or a limited liability partnership, then these business\nentities are transferrable and provide limited\nliability to the owners of the business. And these are two of the core\nadvantages that cannot be leveraged through another\nform of business entities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the annual\nsales of your catering business lead to a turnover of less than Rs. 40 lakhs and the\ncapital requirement are lesser than Rs. 25 lakhs then you have an upper hand,\nwhich helps you to be relieved from an audit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the turnover\nexceeds Rs. 40 lakhs, then you need to set up a private limited company. This\nis the case with almost all the businesses involved in the catering, as the\nbusiness of catering is on the boom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, private limited works as a tag of recognition, trustworthy, and attract investors in the market<\/a>. Because at the end it comes down to the right funding at the right time for the unhindered growth of your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you decide the right type of business structure, you need to obtain various licenses from the Government Authorities. Some of them are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Entering into a food business without getting a food license!\nDon’t even think about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obtaining an FSSAI license<\/a><\/strong> for your catering business must be on the top of your list. Otherwise, the FSSAI will slap you down with such hefty charges and penalties that you will not even able to recover from the damages incurred from the imposition by the FSSAI authority. Forget about starting again from scratch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But don’t you\nget all bog down; we are not here to demotivate you. These are just preventive measures to run your food business\nwithout being caught up in the legal battles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FSSAI is basically a Food Safety and Standards Authority of India<\/strong>[1]<\/strong><\/a><\/sup> that grants a Food License to all the food operators in India. FSSAI authority let the food operators carry on the activities related to the Packaging, manufacturing, storage, processing, distribution of food, transportation, import & export of food products and services, catering services, the sale of food or food ingredients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FSSAI\nlicense is mandatory for all the businesses mentioned above.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n To obtain an FSSAI License in India for your food\nbusiness, you need to provide the documents of incorporation of the business.\nAlong with this you just need to submit the documents related to the address\nproof, identity proof as per the format of the Application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now you have a\nbusiness entity and food license to start your food business. But who is going\nto take care of the other accounts such as tax registration?\nDo you know, you need a GST registration as well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Catering\nbusiness in India requires a certificate of GST registration as per the\nturnover and the state in which you decide to run your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You must get a\ncertificate of GST registration if the\nannual turnover of your business exceeds Rs 40 lakhs (Rs. 20 lakhs in northeastern states).<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can\neither visit the web portal of GST registration or contact any reliable service\nprovider to get the GST\nregistration<\/a>. For this, you just need\nto provide a few basic documents and you\nwill have your GST certificate within 7 working days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\nstart your catering business and have established your name in the market, then\nhow do you protect it from not being taken away by someone else. Well here\ncomes the role of trademark registration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trademark is a\nunique and distinct identity of your business. It helps in the creation of the\nbrand image. When you get your trademark registered, you own the intellectual\nrights of that trademark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this fiercely competitive market, cases of business\nidentity thefts are not unheard of. Trademark registration<\/a>\nwill protect the identity of your business. None of the competitors will be\nable to use the same trademark for their business. What about the growth of\nyour catering business? You are successfully running one catering business and\nmaking profits out of it, it is time to open a new branch then trademark will\nplay a major role in this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You are entering\ninto a multidimensional industry; prepare yourself to face the unexpected. And\nif you want to be a player in the long run, you need to have a proper set of the\nbusiness plan. Following are the things\nthat you must keep in mind before starting\na catering business-<\/p>\n\n\n\n To be the main\nplayer of a catering business in the\nmarket, you must have the right kind of manpower and inventories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Basic Checklist of the Inventory to work for\nany event-<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are\nlooking to start your own catering business, then you must go for it. This is\nthe best time to enter the market. You have the right skill set, know the art\nof delivering delicious delicacies; Great! The only hustle is to fulfill the\nlegal formalities involved in the business. But don’t you worry there is a single\nplatform where you can get all the registration certificates, fulfill other\nlegal formalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contact Enterslice<\/a><\/strong> to start your catering business today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nIn the case of Limited Liability Partnership<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
In the case of Private Limited Company<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
FSSAI License<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is FSSAI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How to obtain the FSSAI License in India?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Why your food business needs a GST Registration?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How and where do you get the GST Registration?Why your food business needs a GST Registration?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What is Trademark Registration and how it saves your Catering Business Identity?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Work on your Business Strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Workforce and Inventories for Your Catering Business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n